‘Some retire only once’: Amit Mishra takes a dig at Shahid Afridi over his retirement advice to Virat Kohli

Former India cricketer Amit Mishra aimed a brutal dig at Shahid Afridi after the ex-Pakistan all-rounder shared some retirement advice for Indian superstar Virat Kohli. Talking about Kohli’s career, Afridi said the Indian batting maestro should retire on a high whenever he decides to walk away from the game, and that it should not come to a stage where he is getting dropped from the team.

Reacting to Afridi’s comments about Kohli, Mishra came up with a sharp response on Twitter. The former India spinner took a dig at Afridi, who retired five times in his international career only to return back four times. Urging him to spare Kohli, Mishra said some people retire only once.

“Dear Afridi, some people retire only once so please spare Virat Kohli from all this,” he wrote in a tweet.

Speaking during a TV show in Pakistan, Afridi came up with some retirement advice for Kohli, who has a number of years left at the top level and has been going strong across all formats for India. Afridi, who backtracked from his retirement four times, said Kohli should look at quitting the game while he is still at his peak and not wait to be dropped from the team.

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“The way Virat has played, the start that he had to his career, he had overcome struggles and work hard before he made a name for himself. He is a champion and I believe there comes a stage when you are headed towards retirement. At such a stage, the aim should be to go out on a high,” Afridi said on Pakistan’s Samaa TV.

“It shouldn’t reach a stage where you are dropped from the team. Instead, retirement should be announced when you are at your peak. It seldom happens though. Very few players, especially cricketers from the Asian region make that decision, but I feel when Virat does it, he will do in a good way and probably end his career in style much like the way he began his career,” he added.

Kohli was under massive pressure to deliver and bounce back to form amid his lean patch ahead of the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2022. However, the former Indian skipper rediscovered his form and looked in great touch throughout the tournament as he notched up back-to-back fifties before smashing his much-awaited 71st international century.

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Kohli scored his first hundred for India since November 2019 and brought an end to a nearly three-year-long wait for his 71st ton. He ended the tournament with 276 runs at an average of 92 and a strike rate of 147.59 to finish as the highest run-getter for India.